The Sun. — London, England, 1818-12-31 00:00:00

Reremtcs are disrensed, the 'Crown hail at this moment possesced any influence at 1111 ; ( l ope at !east in any degree adequate to the i!e i n4MlS ot strictly constitutional necessity. Voi* 'it should he considered, that without a certain portion of influence on the part of the Crown, the puldic husiness could not be carried on, probably 'is,►r a single day ; but the state engine, with all its nice and complicated machinery, would fall in to confusion at (nice. " With regard to the Borough system, it seems the twural and necessary consequence of the or dinary progress of human affairs, that certain parts of a great eommonity should mount io tile scale of population and opulence, whist others pro portionally sink in it ; and if every ri!y, town, and boroogh, in the kingdom, were to have their chartered and representative rights done away, the moment their commerce, their In anulactilie! , , or other s:otrees of population and opulence be g-a,l to decay, there would be no eint ro such bottees in the municipal bodies of the state ; as mast in that case be for ever necessarily va • ryme. according to the ever varying coedHoo of oe did. I Ilt 1,0,5, 1 Ildepen'enilv these Ir0!t- Sifkriti(lll l l, \Odell cannot t a d to have their weight with every thiuking man, is it p e astoialde to seppose, that AO assembly, so constituted the lowa, House 01" Parliament now is, woold solimit, without the compulsious of ex ternal filet . , to any such extraordinary modes of Rea fin it, as either of those above alluded to, I.y which one moiety of its at the It , would he immediately deprived of their seats, and • with them of the ;;seater part of their personal consequence ; and the other moiety be rtii.!.'rsal :he absolote slaves of a wild Democracy, • out `a rower of judeiog, or acting, for them selves ; hot he compelled, like pwee's, to play such parts in the political drama, as teoin week to week, and from di'.y to day, shoeld be arbi• trarily assigned to them by their Constituents any 'reflecting mind he wined for one mo ment to this view 01 the, subject, sod the to tal impracticability of such. a measure, without soelr' others of extern:if compulsion - as should tend to overturn en't'ry part of. the - eXiST Colit,titil tioo, must he sullicteolly apparent to mender re!l other seatemeuts, awl all other aratonents on the • otmccessary, Whit then, it will Ise said, remains to be done, or attempted, with any,pro handily of success Various abuses are sappos• eti to haae b,To discovered, which demand a re nte,ly, god if those who have been guilty of them Will not apply it, either the people must take the power into their own hands, or some conciliatory Measures be adopted by those who possess that rotor, ellcol!ted to anteliwate future prosiest., Old to afford a gort of earnest to the people, that the unauthorized commission of such supposed •abuses will hereafter be tarovided against. This, itf ti , e loonble opinion of the writer, is no other • to he oracticarly 'effec'ed, than by rendering. the lower House of l'arliament as respectable as the spirit of the existing Laws and Constitution of the Conotry will admit of, without abandon ine first principles, or exciting any violent, con vidsion in the-State. And this every one most al low to he desirable in the highest degree, though low to be effected may no: be so immediately an parent. The very short and simple plan the writer has to propose trill, he humbly submits, ontie the Gordian knot, and solve the diflienity at once ; not only without altering the spirit Of a single existing law, but merely by a strict miller ence to, and enforcement of, the genuine prin ciples of those already in existence ; the spirit of which has been shamefully violated, equally to the evident dishonour of the representative and the just dissatisfaction of the constituent bodies. A violatiou,,..by which in (lit ect contradiction, or, at least, evasion, of one of the Plainest, and most clearly expressed Acts which the Legislature of this Coutatry ever framed, the lower House of P4tdiameot, instead of being constituted of indi viduals, each and all of them possessing a certain defined stake in the great national interests, is be come an asyhtm for men of ruined awl desperate ftirtunes, who seek their seats in it at any expense of bottom., or money, or other means within their teach, for the purpose of sheltering themselves from the defratids of their just creditors 4 (', and of obtaitting besides a chance for their share in the general scramble, according to their several mea sures of talent, or want 01 principle, which chance too seldom turns tip a blault, if welt snpported by both those constituent parts. Perfectly aware that ioviolabilify of person is absolutely essential to the ireedom of Parliament, the writer would be one of the very last to propose i•ti infringe ment in the most distant' way ; so far indeed is any such intriugernent front his intention, that it would be the warmest wish of his heart, that every member should not only be free in his per son (so far as is necessary to the execution of his functions), but be equally. 'so in his thoughts, and his actions, and alike respectable throughout, in his coutluct, hit character, and his situation. This the writer, upon the best founded conviction, not only believes., but knows may he done by a rigid adherence to the sense and spirit of the Q,:aliiicatioti Acts, as they nowt stand—By the Act of the 9th of Queen Anne, Chap. sth, it is, for the better preserving the freedom and consti tution of Parliam6u, enacted, that `no persou shall bc capable to sit or vote as a member of the House of Commons, for any Cou 4 aty, City, Bo rough, or Ciolue Pot t, within that part of Great I;iitsin called England, the Dominion of Wales, and Town of Ber tt iek-upon-Tweed, who shall not have an estate, freehold, or copyhold, for his own life, or for some greater estate, either in law or equity, to and for his own use and bene fit, of or in lands, teosutents, and heredita tnents, over and alcove What Will satisfy fool clear all incombrances that may affect ae sans , lying or being _within that part' of Great Britain called England, the dominion o: \Vales, and town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, of the respective animal value hereafter limited, vi delicet, the annual value of ,six huodied pounds, above rept ises, for every Knight of a Shire ; and anuttal value of three hundred hounds, above reprisk-s; for every Citizen, Burgess, or Baron of * An ipstance hao. r:Tently occurred, where a party, actually in prison, ;40e,ur,i himself to he elected., and thus obtained Lip culaocipriiion and !mute protection, with that money tt otlit • have been applied in satiifactitin of the dc in4;ALIA of his CA tditors. the Cinque Pottts ; and that if aeny person; Who shall be elected or returned rose• ye in any Par liament, as a Knight of the Shire, or as a Citi zen, Burgess, or Baron of the Cinque Ports, shall not, At the time of such election and return, be seized cif, or entitled to such an estate, in tenetnents,.or hereditaments, "as for such Knight-, 'or for such Cit izen, Burgess, or Baron, respectively, is hereinbefore required or limited, such election and return shall he void,' " in - order the better to insure the observance of the above statute, another Act passed in the 33d of thelate King, chap. 20, by viticla, after teceing the former Act, it was enacted, that order to enforce and tender the said Act more ef fectual, every person who shall be elected a Member of the House of Cntmoons, shall, be lose be presumes to vote in the House of Com mons, or , it there during any debate in the said of Commons, after their Speaker is chosen, produce and deliver in to the Clerk of the said House, at the table in the middle of the said House, end whilst- the Home of Continuos i•-; there duly sitting, With their Speaker in the chair of the suid House, a paper or account signet' by every such Menther e contimining the name or [lames of ti.e parish, township or precinct, or of the se veral parishes, townships or precitirts, and also of tire county, or of the several counties, to which the lanes, leo:mews; or hereditaments do lie, whereby he makes our his qiielifiration, 4e clariog the same to be of the annual value of six hundred pounds above teprises, it a Knight of a Shire; and of the annual value of three hundred pounds above reptises, a Ci'tzen, Burgess, or Baron of. the Coopme Ports ; and shall also, at the same time, take and subscribe the oath therein set fold) to verify the fact.' '' By tl:e second section of the las' no'ntioned act, the election of persons precutting Co act with out being so qtralitied, is declared to be void. — Now it should he observed, that the quantum of this q ial•fieation was fixed in times, when money, by it, proportional scarcity, was in fart entt , l, in teal valise, to three or ftter times the saute .tioam-i -nal atoottot in those we live in ; so that a fair demand might perhaps be made by the people for its proportional increase; hut as that would he attended with various difficulties, as to the pr e cis e aseetteiemsnt of the now; propottional equivalent, time writer, whose sole object is to attain much, or at least as much as he thinks at all necessary, at the smallest possible expellee, coosentS to Vt'alVe that consideration altogether, and content hint self simplywith thespiri - of the law as it now stands; the evasion of which is notoriously, and every day, practised without the ainallest - notice what ever. Alen without a single foot of land in the world, without a single gitinee they can justly claim as their own, borrow qualifications as they 'purchase 'scale in Parliament, and fre fl uently of the very same parties ; the - turoishing a qualifi cation being made a specific part of the contract for the seat. Now to do away this evasion eito gether, and relider the Representative at least as indepeodent as he professes to be, and ought to he, the writet's proposal is, that every qoulifica lion, whether real or hotrowed, shall remain lial le to the demands of the Member's creditors, dating the whole petiod of his sitting in Parlia ment ; instead of its being lent, as is frequently the case at present, for tour end twenty houra, for the mere temporary purpose of enabling the Alleuther to take his seat, and to be then returned to the teal owuere—hi other words, if a person . really choose to accommodate a Member with a qualification, let hint do it at the peril of be ing liable,. to that Membet's debts. In order to avoid all possible inconvenience, respect ing duubtfol or disputed demands, the writer pro poses, that the claims of creditors should not at tach, or become a lien upon time qualification, un til a judgment shall have been actually recovered at law for the ;mount ; anti that immelliately af ter'the recoidiug of such jodgment, the member should have three months time given him to tar nish an additional, or new qualificatiote; so that he should at all tones possess a clear unincumbered qualification to the stipulated legal amount, while he sits . in Parliament ; anti in detatilt thereof, that his seat should become, ipso facto, and irre vocably vacated.. By this simple measure, with out any inooset ion on, or substatoial alteration ot, the-existing laws, the end anti object of those at present in force, for desiguating cite qealifira lions of Representatives, would be preserved ; and every ruined, or much-incronbered illdlVjdUal, ice stead of seeking refuge from the claimer of his fair Creditors in the House of Commons, would, from the publicity of the measure, fly from it, as from plagmte, pestilence, and famine ;' and the body at large, thus purified, become at once time most mespectable, and the most respected too, of any that bistro) , has handed down to us in the annals of the world. Every 'days: e would then lots'e a teal stake in the political game, and not be !table to be driven, by persoual distress, into measures injurious to his country, and eiisho noorrible - to himself. The writer is well as are, that so moderate and plain a mode of reform, as is here proposed, cannot hit the tastes of all alike, The Crown and Anchor Reformers will probably, on the one hetid, consider it as nothing ; _a mete drop in time ocean of corruption, which could twit:ter purify its waters, or alter the course of i , s current ; whilst the men of ruined and desperate fortunes,"now basking in the sunshine of Repre seotative immtinity, would piociaitn it one of the most visionary, impracticable, and inefficieto schemes ever submitted to time consideration of the public. Visionary, however, and ineffi cient as it may appear, nothing can he more easy Than its execution ; and nothing more certain and salutary Omens its effects. With out either abetioe or infringing the spirit of any existing law, the Representative Body would thus be at once purged of its most objectionable and destructise parts; and new life aud vigour, in consequence, be restored to winterernains. Every individual occupying a seat in the Lower House of Parliament wouid - then be, in eirenmstaileee, at least, of some itidejeendence ; and whatever germ: at eon opr ion might be discoverable'in him, moat be co-existent with his oasurel frame and coestoutioe ; and not derived from the circum staeces of exterior' situation. It will be asked, perhaps, how, in such titnes as the present, when the prices or every article, essential rot only to the comfort*, but even the necessities of have expel ie need so ittimoderate and dispropottlone ed a rise, could the possession of a clear three hundred, or six hundred pounds a .year, place a matt beyond the reach of corrupt influence ? The all/1 1 ver is, that, though it might not do so wholly (which pt obably might be the case),' yet would it he well worth the experiment ; fur surely one possessing either of those incomes, or the tunic ty, or even the quarter of them e " above re prises.," would stand upon mach more respectable grooml than another, who does not posse” any income at. all, and is induced, by that Yet y cir cumstance, to seek an asylum in Parliament front the just demands of his creditors. The former May 'prove, it is true, a". very dishonourable and unworthy member of society ; hut the latter, al• most necessarily, is before he would aspire to a seat in Patliament, on the grounds, and for the purpose stated ; - and, should any spark of honour lurk !wept. in his frame, is liable to have it extingoishtd by the eel first drop from the phial of temptation that is poured upon it. How many individuals do we not know tinder this degradiug predicament ? f 1 tw many finis c! wider the cloaks of patriotism, and pre teoded 'Leo' for the rights of the people, who are themselves the grevest enemies to those rights, by an equal disregard of their honour, and the claims of those who have ju,t dem audi 'on them? Ilow - malq, on the oilier hand, become the most active and mischievous creatures of ;Ministerial influence, horn the same degra,!ing 1111,1 dishonourable motives ? West men, betore they courted seats itt Pailiameot, to place themselves in a clear and indepeodent situation, and be enabled to enter that respectable assembly with erect coelyemoices, and say,' ' We claim our sears bete as chosen itqieseutatives of . the People, to delt a ic) their rights, ati l nialifiain 'Our ; bete al e Our COLS, 10 that property SO' kites our legal Tialtficalioos—assaiL them who may, - we stand - at all rime's 011 -oar defence, perfeetly cowcious that.ottr ' , Wore involves the ot that situation which we have beet' mot., ambitious en outaioing.' How trally te sliectable would an assembly of such Rept esen tat i es render themselves, not merely in the eyes of their Constituents, but of the world at l'zrge; and, what is more than all the rest., in theieown? lostead of heit;g pointed at, as is now frequently the case, with the finger of scorn, as substat.iolly aliens horn that community whose rights they are bound to protect ; us fugitives from law hod jus tice, under the shadow of_ privilege, and shelter ' log tbetliselves under the meanest evasions, for the basest anti most criminal of pUrposes, they would then become the true ant! fair Representa tives of the Peolde who elected them, with no other bias to betray their trust, than what might he referred to the failings of our common nature, to the total eradication of which no human insti turit,tls can apply. Titus . by a simple adherence to the spirit of the existing laws, hich had their origin both in reason aod expediency, anti were Dever yet evaded even in letter, withoot the vir tual breach of O so/man oath, would the supposed tects in the representative body be at once reme died, so far as (lie Constitution permits, without a deteliction of tights, or principles, on the one hood, or a forcible iovasioo of them on the oilier. The Representative would thus be rep.' tiered respectable ; and the Constituent 'content, at least to all reasonable Proposes, and to the full satisfaction of every reasonable mind: for he who expects that any plan could be formed, or hint suggested, that should equally meet the otjeets alit wishes of all parties, would he just as' weak as the countryman of &sop, who attempted to adjust the Managemeht of his beast conformably to the advice of every passenger ; aud with as ra tional a hope, as to the ultimate result, as the other of klorace,'who ltustieas exoectat dam deibiat ;minis, at ins " Lit,itur, et I ibeiur in mune voluyis worm." NORFOLK COUNTY MEETING. Saturday last was appointed by the High Sheriff for holding the County Meeiing, t o e or c _ an Address . of Condolence to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, on the demise of our late Queen, his Royal Mother. The 11 gli Shetiff did not take the Chair until near one o'clock, he hay ing waited a very considerable time for the Noble .inen and Gentlemen who signed the Requisition. After the Under-Sheriff had read the adveciise ntent for enlivening the Meeting, the High Sheriff opened the business. Mr. N. B. PALMER then rose, and was com mencing to address the High Sheriff, when lie was interrupted by the Hon. Colonel IVodelionse, who claimed precedence, it having been arranged, before he came thither, that he was to move the Address. The sense of the Meeting, however, being decidedly in favour of Mr. Paltrier continu ing, he Made some severe remarks on the impro priety of sending a Requisition to the High Sheriff, ►igned by only seven names, four Lords, one Ho nourable, and two 'Squires, all professed supporters of the Ministry. lie therefore had great pleasure in moving an Address which emanated from the Yeomanry. Ater a► few remarks, Mr. Palmer con cluded by reading an Address, which was couched in language most admirable and most becoming-- worthy of a tree people to offer, and of a great Prince to accept. Mr. Atclidelcon BATnuitsT seconded the Ad dres in a speech alike honourable to his heel and heart. The lion. Colonel WoostrousE then proposed his Address, as an amendment ; and atter some delay, it was ieconded by T. Cubits, Esq. of Honing. The High Sheriff took a show of bands on the amendment, and then on the original Address ; and'endeavoured as near as possible to ';nuns the numbers on each, which appeared to him so equ,d, that he was tunable to decide which was cart ied. A desultory conversation followed, which lab( ed . mote than an hour. Mr. Archdeacon Bathurst, Mr. Palmer, Colonel Wodehouse, and Mr. C. Harvey, took the principal share in it ; during which atternws were made to a compro. wise, by acing out the concluding paragraph of the original Address, on ;Account of its alluding to the necessity of an amelioration and revision 0 1 our Criminal Code ; which, alt It on g h most pre sent allowed the necessity or, yet deprecAted its intruductiowiuto an Address of CothfuleGce. t. twittT prOposed that both Ad:iressei should be lett for signature.—Col. WoDE.llot , sr , , however, signified his determination not to with.- draw the Aniendine»t ; and atter t,ome further loio of time, tie Meeting was dissolved (thanks having first been moved to the High Sheriff, and carried by acclamation), witboot any decision being come to on the purport of the Meeting. The Hon. Colonel declared that it was an.ab* surdity to suppo'se that ►he sense of the County could be taken at a Meeting in the Shire Halle and retired with his friends, expressing their id' tention of signing their own Address, and for• warding it to Carlton house. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. CIRCULATING FALSE NEWS. litekv-StnEET.—Vester4l“y Tiios. Love and Thos. Howlett were chaf t , ,, , d with making a disturb• mice in Chelsea, and circulating false news of most lion id nal ui e. It appeared that the prisoners had alarmed the inhabitants of Chelsea yesterday morning, by the blowing of horns, which excited the attention of liockeridge, the pat lute w ho resides at Chel , ea. The Prisoners :vere blo,ving then horns opposite to the house in tt HA be resides ;a:moot - icing "The full. true, and particular acconot of the‘mast cruel and barbarous murder of Mr. Ellis, ofSloane-street, which took place last night in the Five Fields, (Aid , - sea." Buckeridge knowing .hat no such horrid event had taken plat e, seized one of them, when the• other ran but was -pursued and takeu. The papers in their possession, which they bad been selling at a halAienny each, were seized and -brMieht rot his :Ace ii tLe ptlsOiser9, wizen they - underwent a ION; examination before flteks,,wbo, oo.reatiiogthe papers found • apt ii tbein, observed, that their condoct appe;l red to he gross and infamous, as their contents proved not tolhave -slightest allusion to the Stippo,eti lOU rde r of Mr. Ellis, but :elated to an invetved murder, which, if true, would have been of the most dreadful nature, and to the greatest extent t!,at ever disgraced the blank catalogue of crimes. The account, were headed in large letters, " llorrit! Murder," which was stated to 1183;6 been committed it South-green, near Dartford, On the bodies of Timm ts Lane, his wil e , three children, and his mother. The murderers were stated to have entered the house of Mr. Lane, in South Green, last night, between the hours of ten and twelve, without mentioning any date. Upon inquiry in the Office, no saCII rid murders had been heard of, and no dpubt was enter !Hilted but that the whole was a fabri' cation. . It was discovered that these composi tions issued from the same press, as did an ibilatn. matory bill, a few months since, which collected. several crowds, and much disturbance ensued in consequence, in the ncighbourhoood of Market, respecting a - pork-butcher in that tinily bow hood. . The Magistrate now severely censtired the con' duct ot'tiie parties, in circulating such statements, tending to considerable mischief. lie ordered the prisoners to be detained; and considered them to be proper subjects to be made Ka exturphr. of, for the nuisance of the blowing of horns. ESSEN. GANG OF ROBBEftti. UNION-FlALL.—Vesterday, , a dating gang of 12 notorious robbers, who have long int ts t c d coooty of Essex, Were committed ft otnthi3 (Mice tu -Chelmsford Jail. Thee have been implicated in no !ps titan ;0 robberies. part of which they admitted, and the remainder were proved hi, numbers of witnesses, A lonely honse, called Mutton Hall, wa,s their place of refirg,e, where the horde generally ^Aroused during the day, and pre , pared for future exsploits. Ti:eir behaviour at the time- of their corn meta was . Most audacious, and they tepearedly cursed each other fur having' discovered their practices. COAL MARKET', Dr.cEmrstu 3'..). , Slips at Marlirt. - Ships 3olti. Price. 3ti Newcastlu .......,-21A ....313! , . Od. tel 475. Odi: 11 5ninkr1anc1............. 6 1 Elgin Man Coal._ 0 ...—r. nd: to - - --s. 0 , 2 1ia1beathC0a1.........0...... BIRTHS. On the 28th inst. the Lady fAi thin Morris. Esq. of a son' Same day, Mrs. Rohert Winter, of fledforti-row, of a son. M,A1:1111. - .1). Lately, at Kensington. H. I. Faulkner. Esq. A M. of "rases' n;.se College, Oxford, t.► Jane, second daughter of the late John Miles, Esq. On Tuesday last, at his house in Friday-street,John Elliott, E.g. in the 7Mh year of his age : twenty-seren years one of, th e Comnion- Council of Bread-street Ward ; hissing suerivt:u Mrs. Elliott only three m , the and a day. Same day, at Cooliham, near Maidenhead, Mr. WOliatt Venal,les, sen. aged 57. PROVINCIAL BIRTH, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS• Friday morning last, in Chester, the Lady of Jyhu Hiatt:olY Esq. of Plas Beaton, Denbighshire, of a son. On Tuesday ce'nniglit, at. ‘Varringtnn, R o bert Ellison. F.q of Upton, Chi•shire, to }:!;abet., only daughter 01 .t,ihn Tack:son, Esq. of Vrtic!. Hall, near Warrington. 'flirsitay last, at Prestiniry, Mr. Charlr Knight, eldest son of Mr. James Koiv-lit, of Bank Top, to Miss Mary Hot%itiri (laughter of Mr. David Hoegh, of the WattrcoteS, in Mae' 1t Huxley, Kent, .Tames !lest, Es q. of Park Ilouse, to Flar' yonngt•st dauOito . of the late S. It. Caussen,'Esq. of Ilrookwait's Park, [lett , . Cin the -2 5t hi inst. Qt. lie, Kent, Thum.; scow, Jar!. 14:54 4 cLivit son tit Tii ,, ni.ts •e;liy, Esq. of Ot ford Castle, Kent, to I,"ntsa Cli ne,eldest clang - 111,1r of Professor Coleman, Veteri• nary Surgeon-General to the Forces. DIED. Friday last, at Portsnaeuth, Lieut. It. 'Jilted, of the 5 34 Regiment. Lately, at Gretnwich Hospital, (.:ziptain Partlock, he accompanied Cw i tittin Cook round the w. , r1,1, and subse- T .l ently vt.,.b.tiortl two other similar vova,..;-. Lot ly, at NO, ai k, in one faa.ily of the I,a :le of liaywoojt tt, o brothers :lin: one sister. at. New fleaton, near Berwick, ..Tatties Allan hic . o ' l ' l the 'I harsday itreceding,his kit was priehed by is thorn, w; not !tem.?, at coded I.), protluctil such a severe swelling and indantrultion 3s caused his death. On tile '2Blh tilt. at Kilmarnock, Scotland, Mrs. Bruce.-', She WaS tapped 42 liines, and 500 Scots hints - of water draw') : off, a (tnithhty almost incredible in the short strict: 0f,..5.t. noon 1,, amounting in weight in 2000Ibs.: nevertheless I.`, wit, a ttle to attend divine service until within a few dais Li' her dein 11.-• LONDON: Primucl by.l. 8.. L 'ARSTAIBS, of No. 29, Grve Ormond-street., Queeo-square; and published by W• ' St.:RIPPS, of No. 7, South Moitoti-sticet, at DIE , i ' Office, No. 112, Strand ; where Advettisements, ()viol! Letters, .c. 4,u31 -paid) mast loaa.Jdre6sud.